The Future Tech Workforce is Right Here in Washington. Yes, Over Here!

I live in rural Central Washington where there are more apple trees then people.?The folks that choose to live here, love it for many reasons. Personally, I love the small-town relationships, the open landscape, and the slower pace of life. Living here also means that at times, we lack the mass resources the west side of Washington State has at their disposal to create change.?I’m experiencing one of those moments right now and could use your help.

For the last 5 years, as part of my TechSpark work I’ve been working with partners to expand access to CS education for youth in rural districts in North Central Washington. Through collaborations with Microsoft TEALS, NCESD, Apple STEM, Code.org, and FIRST Washington we’ve seen the number of rural school districts offering CS courses tick up from 4 districts, to 11, to 17, and this year, I believe all of our comprehensive high schools are on track to offer a CS course for students at high school.?This was not easy work. This collective milestone is the result of hours of strategic planning, educating, advocacy, persistence, and encouragement. ?

Students in a CS Class at Quincy High School. (Photo courtesy of Mark Kondo)

What makes this even more of a feat is that only a few years ago, computer science was a foreign and somewhat terrifying concept to these kids. Many of the rural farm students actually understood AI to mean Artificial Insemination… not Artificial Intelligence. There is a reason for that as students in Central Washington don’t have family, friends or neighbors who work in the tech industry like those on the west side of Washington; they have families that instead help grow food for the world. ?They don’t see the buildings, signs, or busses with the branding of technology companies on them every few blocks, instead they see acres of farm commodities, processors, and small-town businesses. The irony is that these industries they do see are quickly changing, and the technology skills students are learning will rapidly change agriculture as well, which means students need this access to computer science more than ever.

These students do not see a future working in technology because they simply aren’t exposed to it.? Luckily, I do see that future for them, as do my partners, who are doing this work with me. We know the need for more students to be in CS and we see the jobs that will be available to them. Our challenge now is that although all our Central Washington schools have CS classes, students are not taking advantage of the course offerings. ?Our courses are not full, some are running with low enrollments. The students taking courses do not feel a sense of belonging and they’re not hearing from colleges and employers that they are wanted and needed.

We are wanting to change that.?Since July, I have been working with Apple STEM, NCESD, Microsoft TEALS, and NCW Tech Alliance to put on a CS Fair for high school students this fall on November 9, in Wenatchee.? This is the first time a CS Fair will be in Eastern Washington and the schools have responded with well over 500 students registered already.?We are hoping to create a sense of excitement and send a loud and clear message to the rural high school CS students that they are wanted, worthy and needed in CS careers at a critical moment.?

Since August, collectively we have messaged close to 100 college representatives and industry leaders in tech to come share their programs with students at the CS Fair so they will want to stay the path and continue in CS. We have personally reached out to technology companies and start-ups.?Although we have had a few wonderful organizations who stepped up right out of the gate to be exhibitors (thank you!), we are just not getting the response we need and could use help.? Many responded that the 2.0 - 2.5 hours is simply too far to drive to get here.?Really? Disappointed would be an understatement in how I am feeling for these students. ?These are amazingly smart and hard-working kids who just happen to live in a rural area in the middle of the state.?They need to feel seen and wanted.?We need to expose them to colleges who have CS programs and have them see technology they could someday be working on.?We need to show them their future. We need them to dream.

Wahluke School District Student in Mattawa, WA.

So here lies my humble request.?Please help us inspire these young CS students from Central Washington to pursue CS as a career path.??We need exhibitors, demos, or hands-on activities for the high school students.?If you can help, please feel free to DM me or click here to sign up. Thank you for considering and if you do decide to come……lunch is on me!